MCLAREN TEAM PRINCIPAL

How did it feel to get a second podium as Mclaren team principal?

To pull it off like we did this weekend is the best thing that could have happened to us going into this new season. Also, it’s a great confirmation that we are going in the right direction with everything we want to do in the team. We made a good step forward with the car. Also on the team side in how we operate, we made a good step.

What did you tell Lando Norris about closing the gap to Lewis Hamilton late on?

To be honest it was a bit of a rollercoaster those last laps, because at some point we all thought we missed the podium when Charles Leclerc went through. But obviously we were communicating the gaps to Lando about Lewis. Then when Lewis got his penalty, Lando was prepared for his last laps in terms of getting the maximum of everything the car had. For Lando to pull it off like that is impressive. And if you look at the whole weekend it is impressive what Lando has done. It also shows that he has developed, or made the next step as a driver, which you would also expect after your rookie season in Formula 1. I was very impressed, so I’m sure we will have a lot more fun with him in the future.

Where do you think you are relative to Racing Point on pure pace?

Obviously it’s difficult to judge, with Racing Point and us splitting strategy in the first pitstop, as Sergio Perez went on the medium tyre and we went on the hard. So it was difficult to know if the medium would have gone down towards the end and we would have got him. What was encouraging for us to see today is simply, after we had some doubts on Friday in terms of our pace, we were actually even with Racing Point and the Ferraris.